Payday: The Heist Review (PS3)

Payday: The Heist is a downloadable game available through the PS3 network. Developed by Overkill Software it’s a 4 player first person shooter. Heavily influenced by Left 4 Dead, its a multiplayer co-op game where you play through a series of scenarios. So what are those scenarios about? They’re about pulling off the perfect Heist, and escaping! Well six heists to be exact. This ranges from a simple bank robbery to a raid on drug dealers cash or a diamond depository. Now for those of you that have seen The Dark Knight, you may recognize where the game got its inspiration with the crazy clown masks and bank robbing.

The game is not a straight forward FPS it’s also objective based. Different tasks need to be carried out in a certain order for you crack the vault. These include taking out security cameras, setting up explosives and drilling through gates. Completing these objectives earn you money and experience and the more you earn the more you level up. With that comes the unlocking of specialized equipment for you to use in your next heist.

So your in the midst of your heist…. Uh oh what’s that faint siren noise you can hear? Yup the cops! At first the cops are easy. As they arrive you start taking hostages and kill a few and carry on with your task, but the further into a heist you go the more wave after wave of cops start bearing down on you and the more difficult they become. Snipers, cops dropping in through skylights and helicopters, special units and cops in full head to toe armor (Bulldozers) are sent your way. Its just like that guy at the start to lethal weapon 4, annoying and a pain in the ass to kill. With all these cops on you the emphasis in the game is cooperation. If there’s more than one of you playing it’s best to take on different roles. This could be involve one guy taking care of the drill whilst one watches the door for cops and the rest are taking hostages. You can’t take a gung-ho approach either, as your ammo can get quite limited. The Single player downside is the AI players tends to just follow you, covering your back while you end up doing every task, but it still makes for a good gaming experience.

The game looks good but I found the controls to be lacking a certain grace in the way your character moves through the map. The voices giving you the commands are also quite generic. You do have health in the game and can take quite a beating before you go down, but you can be revived by team mates if they’re nearby. Making use of cover is essential.

With just six heists, is their re-playability? Well the game is all about getting better and better trying to beat your last score and unlocking more upgrades. 140 of them to be exact, but isn’t explained too well in the game as you can pick and choose what upgrade to unlock be it from assault class, sharpshooter and support. You need to pick wisely based on the type of role you want to play in the game. The game is also ideal for DLC, giving the player new heists to orchestrate.

All in all, Payday: The Heist is not a bad game for £12.99 and best played with friends. It could of done with a little extra tweaking, but please don’t go making any sudden career changes.